1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle1 and set apart2 for the gospel of God3 —
2the gospel he promised beforehand1 through his prophets2 in the Holy Scriptures3
3regarding his Son, who as to his earthly lifea1 was a descendant of David,2
4and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in powera1 by his resurrection from the dead:2 Jesus Christ our Lord.3
5Through him we received grace1 and apostleship to call all the Gentiles2 to the obedience that comes froma faith3 for his name’s sake.
6And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.1
7To all in Rome who are loved by God1 and called to be his holy people:2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.3
8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you,1 because your faith is being reported all over the world.2
9God, whom I serve1 in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness2 how constantly I remember you
10in my prayers at all times;1 and I pray that now at last by God’s will2 the way may be opened for me to come to you.3
11I long to see you1 so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift2 to make you strong—
12that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.
13I do not want you to be unaware,1 brothers and sisters,a2 that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now)3 in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
14I am obligated1 both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.
15That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.1
16For I am not ashamed of the gospel,1 because it is the power of God2 that brings salvation to everyone who believes:3 first to the Jew,4 then to the Gentile.5
17For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed1 —a righteousness that is by faith2 from first to last,a just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”b3
18The wrath of God1 is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.1
20For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made,1 so that people are without excuse.2
21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.1
22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools1
23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images1 made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them over1 in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.2
25They exchanged the truth about God for a lie,1 and worshiped and served created things2 rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.3 Amen.4
26Because of this, God gave them over1 to shameful lusts.2 Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.3
27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.1
28Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over1 to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.
29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,1
30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;1
31they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love,1 no mercy.
32Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death,1 they not only continue to do these very things but also approve2 of those who practice them.